Devil's Army

After the old landlord left, the captain of the first company told the second regiment commander that Jianye Restaurant was poisoned yesterday afternoon and he suspected that it was the old landlord who sent the housekeeper to do it. So he asked the third squad to search the old landlord's house last night.

The second regiment commander exclaimed that it was ridiculous! He accused the first company commander:

"You can't make inferences about what you do. Although the old landlord's son is a company commander in the puppet army and the old landlord is not a good guy, you can't put all the bad things on him."

“We received senna from his house.”

"Did the butler admit that he did it?"

"He was very stubborn and refused to admit it."

"Is he being stubborn, or are you simply suspecting the wrong thing? He's a civilian, not a Japanese spy, so he won't confront you head-on. If he did it, he would usually tell the truth if he was caught in the barracks and threatened."

"Could it be that I was really wrong in my suspicion?" the company commander said to himself.

"With your mindset, if there's a murder or robbery near the old landlord's village, you don't have to investigate it at all. Just blame him. You should know that in the case of poisoning in our restaurant, any stranger who has entered the kitchen is a suspect."

"Then let me investigate again. What should we do with the money that the third shift found last night? Should we return it to the old landlord?"

"Since it's already been done, forget it. The old landlord is not a good guy anyway. Let's send it to the regiment's logistics department?"

After investigation, the company commander found that the herbal medicine merchant was one of the few diners who did not drink the soup poisoned that day. But why would a merchant like him be so mean to them? The company commander still suspected that the old landlord had sent someone to do it.

To be fair, the commander of the first company telegraphed the commander of the second company stationed in Niangniang Palace Town and asked him to help search the herbal medicine store to see if there were any croton seeds and senna leaves.

In order not to disturb the residents, the second company commander also searched the herbal medicine merchant's house by registering the residents' information.

Soon the second company commander told the first company commander that the herbal medicine merchant not only had croton and senna leaves, but also many other Chinese herbal medicines.

What the second company commander meant was that the herbal medicine dealer was in the herbal medicine business, and one could not suspect him of poisoning just because he had croton and senna leaves at home.

If it was the herbal medicine merchant who poisoned the person, then the nature of the poison would be different. He would most likely be a spy for the Japanese, rather than simply a revenge attack from the old landlord.

The first company commander asked the second company commander to help control the herbal medicine dealer and send him to the regiment headquarters.

The herbalist was soon escorted by two soldiers to the current headquarters of the Second Regiment in Jianye Town.

The second regiment commander deliberately stayed at the regiment headquarters to participate in the interrogation of the first company commander.

The company commander took the herbalist to an empty house in the regiment headquarters.

The captain of the first company saw the herbalist trembling when he came in and began to doubt him. He said to the captain of the second regiment next to him:

"It seems that this herbalist might really have problems. He's already so scared before the interrogation even begins."

"If you point a gun at any civilian on the street, any civilian will be scared, let alone a military camp with thousands of guns. If he is not scared, then he is not an ordinary civilian, but a Japanese agent." The second regiment commander responded disapprovingly.

"We have checked everything clearly, why don't you tell us quickly?" The company commander slammed the table and began to blackmail the herbal medicine dealer.

The herbalist's knees weakened, and he knelt on the ground and begged, "Master, I don't know what you want me to confess."

"You are the one who put croton and senna leaves into the regular soup of Jianye Restaurant. What else do you have to say?" The company captain threw the croton and senna leaves from the regular soup in front of the herbal medicine dealer.

When the herbalist saw the croton and senna leaves, his face changed drastically. He kowtowed to the captain and said, "Sir, I was confused for a moment. These things can't kill people. I just wanted to cause you some trouble. Please show some mercy, Sir."

The captain was stunned. He had never suspected that the herbalist was the real murderer. The old landlord was wronged by him. But what was the purpose of the old herbalist doing this? He had not yet solved this mystery. He shouted at the herbalist:

"Why are you doing this?"

"I brought a batch of herbs to Jianye Town to deliver to my customers. I didn't expect that you would rob them on the way. So when I knew that you opened a Jianye restaurant here, I wanted to cause you some trouble."

Did they rob the herbal medicine vendors? That's unlikely. Although the army doesn't have enough medicine now, it's not yet in short supply. Moreover, the discipline of the Anti-Japanese Army is quite strict, and they will never allow soldiers to rob the people's property.

As the interrogation continued, the company commander discovered that the herbal medicine merchant was robbed of his herbs during the time when they were preparing to attack Niangniang Palace Town and the Japanese and puppet troops in Niangniang Palace Town were fleeing.

The matter is very clear. The escaped puppet army or the devils pretended to be the First Anti-Japanese Army and robbed the herbal medicine merchants of their herbs.

In a retaliatory move, the herbal medicine dealer put croton and senna leaves into the regular soup at Jianye Restaurant in the Second Regiment.

In view of the huge loss of the herbs in the Herb Mountain after the Japanese invaders robbed them, the Second Regiment Commander decided not to impose monetary punishment on the herb dealer. However, since he disregarded the safety of the people, although no major casualties were caused, he was still sentenced to one month in prison.